If I’m being real, the “Saddle” I’m referring to in the title is actually a Chevy Impala…or, if I’m lucky, a Toyota Prius. But speaking of saddle, imagine if there were Admission Counselors before cars existed? Instead of a five hour drive to my territory, I’d have a two day “ride,” would overnight in a tent or boarding house, and lunch would be over a camp fire (baked beans and salt pork, anyone?). All that said, it makes me much more excited to be hitting the road in 2012, rather than 1812.Since I last wrote in December (in a post about procrastination, ironically enough), we had just finished up our fall travel season. Spring was, as it usually is, pretty light in terms of being on the road, but there’s been quite a bit of commotion on campus that I can get everyone up to speed on.
In April, we were lucky to host President Obama on campus for a speaking event about student debt reduction and helping students pay for higher education. It was his third visit to the UI since 2007, and he just visited for a fourth time (the first with his wife, the Vice President, and his wife, as well) last Friday. Check out the pictures to see what you missed!
- Too far?
Over the summer, the main thoroughfare between the Pentacrest and the northern reaches of campus was blocked due to construction and refurbishment of the T. Anne Cleary Walkway. We now have a beautiful (nearly finished) pathway between our east side residence halls and the heart of campus, which you can see in the photo below.
At the end of August, we welcomed the Class of 2016, our most diverse and talented group of first-year students, for the second-annual OnIowa program. Students learned about the Iowa Challenge (http://thechallenge.uiowa.edu/), went on a Coffee House Crawl, and kicked off the year at Kinnick Stadium. We’re now in the fourth week of the semester, and everyone seems to have settled in nicely.
As for me, my travel season begins on Sunday when I’ll be driving up to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to begin high school visits in northwest Iowa. I’m looking forward to a little windshield time and to meeting some future Hawkeyes!
